


So Close

by GrieverBitMyFinger



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Caring Sebastian, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Claude is Sebastian's brother, Cold Weather, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I added more relationship tags but it's still mostly Sebaciel, It just gets a little deep at one part, Light Angst, M/M, Nightmares, Only briefly mentioned/implied though, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, SebaCiel - Freeform, Snow, That turns into a real relationship, it's not as sad as it sounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 13:24:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8981671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrieverBitMyFinger/pseuds/GrieverBitMyFinger
Summary: It's Christmas time again! And once again Sebastian will be going home for the holidays with no date! Desperate to not be the only person without a date, he posts an ad for a date.Who knew he would actually get a reply, one that could turn a fake boyfriend into a real one.





	1. I'm confident, but I can't pretend I wasn't terrified to meet you

"Dear reader, I know this isn't the conventional way to do this, and I'm almost positive that I come off as both desperate and a fool, but I don't have any options left.  
I'm attending a family dinner and reunion at my family's home just outside of London, England on Christmas week until the first weekend of the new year.  
I was told that everyone will have a date, though I neglected to mention to my family that I don't have a date.  
I'm looking for a nice woman or man to be my date, all expenses will be paid for by me, and all I ask is that you pretend to know and like me.  
I've linked a picture and basic information about myself, if you're interested please message so that we may meet in person before anything is arranged.  
Thank you for reading and happy holidays!"  
I doubt anyone will respond to that.  
I stared out the window, where the snow continued to fall. Does anyone else actually post ads like that on Craigslist?  
Now that I think about it, those guys needing wedding dates did.  
My phone rang shaking me from my thoughts.  
"Hey Claude" I answered with a small frown, even my brother had Alois.  
"Hey, I was just calling about the dinner party mum's so set on having. Are you actually going or are you just saying you are and then claiming your flight was cancelled last minute?" Claude asked, making me smirk, my brother knows me so well.  
"No, no. I'm actually going... I'm not sure I'm gonna enjoy it though, especially alone" I replied.  
"Date or no date, I'm not sure anyone actually enjoys Christmas parties except maybe Alois, mum, and Kyrie" Claude said, "they just pretend to be having fun, and then they text their friends under the table about how much they wish Christmas was already over."  
"You did it too" I mumbled, earning a laugh in response.  
"I'm pretty sure I texted you about it even though you were across the table from me" the golden eyed man laughed. "I know you did I-" I was stopped mid sentence by a small ding coming from the computer.  
I opened up the Chrome window up to see it back on his Craigslist post, and with a small red circle around a one. Someone had replied to my post. "Claude, I'll call you back" I said, already clicking the end call button, only giving him enough time to hear, "wait Sebastian! I called to tell you, there's a friend of Alois' I think you should meet! His name is-"  
"Oops sorry, Claude" I laughed, looking at the black phone screen.  
"I'll ask him about it later" I shrugged, clicking on the notification on his laptop.  
"Hello, my name is Ciel. I've read your post, and I'm very interested. It would be great to meet with you.  
Just name a time and place, I've been to most places near the university.  
I've also added basic informatiom about me below and a picture" it read.  
"Holy shit, did that really just happen?" I spoke aloud to myself, not only did this guy go to the same university as me and seem nice, he was gorgeous!  
I gave myself a few more seconds to gawk before responding, "Would Friday at 5pm at Anteiku Coffee Shop work?"  
I only had to wait a few minutes to get a reply, "sounds great, I look forward to meeting you." I smiled as I leaned back on my couch, closing my eyes.  
Now all I had to do was wait.

*skip to Friday*

I sat at the table in wait of my fellow student, it was ten minutes til' five, and to say I was nervous was an understatement.  
I reminded myself that this wasn't a date before I realized, this was harder than a date.  
I would be stuck with this stranger for two weeks, even if we didn't get along once we got to England.  
I sat there for five minutes before I noticed a man with slate blue hair picking up a ceramic coffee mug at the counter.  
When did he even walk in? Was I that lost in my thoughts?  
"Sebastian Michaelis?" he asked, stopping in front of the table.  
"That's me" I smiled, "you're Ciel Phantomhive, right?"  
He nodded, giving me a small smile as he sat down across from me.  
I tried not to stare at those beautiful azure eyes and opened my mouth to ask him a question about himself, but the only question that came out was, "what kind of coffee did you get?"  
"I didn't. I got a chai tea latte, they have the best in New York in my opinion" he smirked.  
I wonder if he could tell how awkward I felt?  
Luckily for me he asked me a question, "so, why not just ask a friend to go with you?"  
"Well, you see, my friends are great people, but one, they couldn't keep a secret to save their life. And two, they love to embarrass me, and as soon as I called them my date they would either tell my family that they're not my date, or they would do all kinds of things that would make me wish I hadn't called them my date" I cringed, remembering the time I was on the phone with Serena and Ronald and Grell grabbed my phone from me to make moaning sounds in the speaker.  
"Well then" he laughed, "that answers my question."  
"My turn then. Why would you rather spend Christmas with a stranger and his family, rather then spend it with your family or friends?" I asked, he stared at the table for a few seconds as if in a daze, before blinking a few times.  
"My friends all have plans" he shrugged, neglecting to answer about his family. I didn't push it, some subjects are better left untouched, and I assumed by not answering, this was one of them.  
"Okay" I nodded, "I like you, let's get to the deep questions now."  
He looked at me confused as I grinned, "what's your favorite color?"  
"They question is so personal though, I don't think we're close enough for me to share this with you" he replied, face completely serious, before he doubled over laughing.  
I laughed shaking my head, barely composing myself, "really though, what is it?"  
"Royal blue for sure, what about you?" he said, taking a second to catch his breath after laughing.  
"I'm not really sure, I prefer black, but I'm not sure if you consider that a colour so I guess dark green" I shrugged.  
"What's your favorite thing to do?" I asked.  
He pondered for a few second before answering, "I'm not really sure. I mean I'm an art student, so sketching and painting are obviously up there, but I also like reading, writing, I like to sing, but I'm not good at it. And I like skateboarding, and horse riding, but I haven't done either of the last two in about two years."  
"I haven't been skateboarding, I'm more of an ice skating kind of guy, is it hard to do?" I asked.  
A smile lit up his face, "it's a little tricky when you're first learning it, especially if you're not good with balancing, but after you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy. The tricks are fun to do, but the first few you learn can be hard."  
"What about you? What kind of stuff do you like to do, you mentioned ice skating? I wanted to learn before, but I never could. How did you learn?" the slate haired boy asked.  
"Well I like singing, playing guitar, piano, violin, singing, and songwriting, but I think that's just the music student talking.  
I like cooking, and I like drawing and writing manga, but I can't quite figure out how to draw the characters to look like I want them to. I also like binge watching, but that's probably more of a bad habit than a hobbie. But anyways, yes ice skating is probably one of my favorite out of those things. It's been a few months since I've practised, but my friend in high school, Victor, taught me how to skate.  
Learning isn't so bad, but once you start learning spins...  
Well, let's just say if you don't have good balance you'll have more bruises than you can count.  
For a while I actually thought about becoming a professional, but I realized that music was my biggest passion." I replied.  
"Sounds fun, I'll have to try it sometime" Ciel said, pulling his sweater sleeves down over the top half of his hands.  
"You should" I nodded, "what's your favorite type of art?"  
"Probably water colors, I like the way the colors can be blended" the blue eyed boy said.  
"I used to paint, not very often, but I liked doing it. I liked charcoals better than painting though" I replied.  
He laughed, "charcoals are pretty fun, I always make a mess."  
"What's your favorite thing to do for music?" Ciel asked.  
"I likely all of it, but I think my favorite thing to do is play the violin" I said, as he nodded.  
"It has a beautiful sound, it's amazing how it can sound so happy or so sad depending on how it's played" the younger student said, shocking me.  
He knows his music, I think this could work very well.  
I glanced outside to see it getting dark already, how long have we been here?  
I looked at my phone to see that it was almost seven, we had been here for two hours already.  
"Ciel, it's starting to get late and I need to go home soon, but can I ask you one more question?" I asked with a smirk.  
"Of course" he replied, taking one last sip of his tea.  
"Will you be my pretend boyfriend to my parents Christmas reunion in Heartfordshire, England?" I asked, a smirk overtaking his neutral expression.  
"It would be an honor to be your fake boyfriend" he grinned, with an exaggerated bow.  
"When's the flight?" he asked, as I looked at the email confirmation on my phone.  
"Six in the morning this Friday" I laughed, shaking my head at his dramaticness.  
"Here's my flat's adress, come pick me up like a proper gentlemen" he winked.  
He's very cheeky. "I'll pick you up at four in the morning on Friday then. We need time to get a cab in case there's traffic, which I'm sure there will be since it's near Christmas.  
Anyways we have to get a cab, go through security, be there ten minutes ahead of time to board, and if we have extra time we can get breakfast or coffee in the airport" I said, he nodded and stood up, dropping his phone in the pocket of his black trench coat.  
"See you Friday" he said, putting his hand out.  
As he did so, I stood up, and a sudden surge of confidence and stupidity hit me, and I did something I never thought I'd do.  
I kissed his hand. He flushed pink and laughed, well at least he has good humor about my mistakes.  
"Save that for England my dearest fake lover" he smirked, turning around to walk away.  
He stopped after a few steps, looked over his shoulder and winked, before walking out the door.  
That was interesting.


	2. I love the feeling when we lift off, watching the world so small below

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally back! I set myself a deadline for New Year's Day, but Christmas was busy and sucked the inspiration out of me. Your comments made me really happy so thank you so much for that! I'm really glad y'all liked it and the references! I'd also like to throw two things out there. One, I'm writing a Valentine's Day fanfic, but there are two versions! There's a Sebaciel version and a Cielois version, so if you comment please say which you would rather read, and I'll post whichever gets the most comments. And two, all of the chapters will be named after songs or lyrics. The last one was lyrics from Stranger by Secondhand Serenade, and this one is lyrics from Death by White Lies. It didn't seem right to just skip to London, but this ended up being mostly dialogue and Sebby talking about his family, the next chapter will be better I promise. It's a little slow! You've been warned!

I tried to stifle a yawn as I waited for the door to open. It was two in the morning and to say I was exhausted was an understatement. I had only gotten three and a half hours of sleep, having laid in bed for two hours before I was able to fall asleep.  
Today way the day Ciel and I flew to London, and with a nearly nine hour flight ahead of us, I only hoped things didn't become awkward between us. I had been worrying about this for the last few days, and while I was nervous, the tiredness I felt standing in front of the door pushed those nerves to the back of my mind.  
In my twenty-five years of life this was the first time I would ever be bringing anyone home, and to think that even this time it's not a real date, I laughed quietly at the thought. The door opened a few seconds later and my fake boyfriend to be stood in the now opened space, royal blue duffle bag in hand.  
A few pieces of hair were sticking up at the front of his fringe, though every other part of his bangs hung over his eyes making me wonder how he could even see, the rest of the slate blue locks were covered by a dark grey and black striped beanie, but I could only guess that it was also slightly mussed underneath.  
His black hoodie nearly swallowed him, but his black jeans clung tightly to his legs, and his hightop Converse were sloppily tied. If his slightly ruffled clothes and circles under his eyes were anything to go by, it seemed I wasn't the only one feeling highly sleep deprived.  
"Hey Sebastian" he smiled tiredly, slinging the strap of his duffle bag over his shoulder, and turning to lock the door after stepping out. "Hi Ciel" I smiled, leading the way to where our Uber waited to take us to the airport.  
The ride was silent as neither of us were in the mood to converse with anyone so early in the morning, and while it was completely quiet in the confines of the vehicle, it wasn't an awkward silence, but a pleasant and welcome one.  
It gave me hope that maybe this trip wouldn't be so strange, it might actually be fun. It only took thirty minutes to get to the airport and walk to terminal D where our plane would depart from.  
The driver helped us get our bags out of the car and we quickly thanked him, before taking the escalator to the terminal entrance, leading us to the security line. It only took fifteen minutes to get through bag check, and we were left waiting in the waiting area.  
"We still have a little over an hour before we have to board, do you want any breakfast?" I started, "well... Very early breakfast?" That earned a laugh from the art student, "No thanks, it makes me feel sick to eat so early. I'd take some tea though." "That makes two of us. Starbucks okay?" I asked, gesturing to the small cafe' placed between a souvenir shop and a McDonald's that was currently still closed. "Sounds good to me" he smiled, following me as I lead the way to the coffee shop.  
"What are you getting?" he asked as we were the second group in line. "Probably a vanilla latte, what do you want?" I asked, moving to the spot in front of the register. He pondered the menu for a few seconds, "grande London fog please." I nodded, repeating the order to the barista along with my own.  
"Why do you like tea so much?" I asked when he sighed in content after taking a sip of his tea. I got a small snort in reply, "what's not to love? It's not bitter like coffee, it doesn't burn going down like soda, it's not as overly sweet as juice, or as flavourless as water. Not to mention it can wake up up, help you sleep, calm you down, and make you happier, what's not to love?" he laughed, "though I could just be the sterotypical Englishmen."  
"Why do you like lattes so much?" he asked. I smirked before answering, he probably wasn't expecting the answer I gave, "because while I myself don't enjoy the bitter taste of coffee, when you get a latte it no longer tastes like coffee. It ends up tasting more like warm, vanilla milk, with foam. It doesn't give me more energy like it does for other people, if anything it makes me drowsy. My twin brother has always been obsessed with any kind of coffee he can get his hands on, I blame him for making me like it."  
"I've just realized something. You never told me any of your family member's names, your middle name, your birthday, the story of how we "met", or how I should act" Ciel said, seeming much more awake after his first few sips of tea, as did I after drinking some of my coffee.  
"Is there anything I should know about anyone?" he asked. "My middle name is Alexander, I was born September twenty-sixth, and my family is very carefree, so just act normal and you'll be fine" I smiled. "About my family, I'll introduce you to them once we get there anyways so don't worry if you can't remember them all" I said, taking another sip of my coffee. "My parents names are Aaron and Viola. My dad won't be at home except in the evening for the first two days, as he works as a book editor and gets his Christmas break a little later as he's finishing up his last manuscript for the year.  
He's not very talkative at first, but he's kind and has a very good sense of humor once you get to know him" I smiled, remembering how much he and Alois embarrassed Claude with their comments about his baby pictures.  
"My mum really talkative and friendly, she'll probably hug you as soon as she sees you, and I can almost guarantee that she'll ooh and aww over you more than you ever thought possible. She's very motherly and she'll be excited as I've never brought anyone home before" I though as a dreadful feeling began to sink in, what if she can tell we're not dating?  
No, no. I can't think about that right now... "So if you don't like people touching you, prepare yourself" I said, he shook his head and laughed, "Luckily, hugging doesn't bother me." "That's good" I grinned, "Anyways though. I have five siblings. My oldest sibling is my sister, Serena. She's married to a man named William. She's a lot like my mum, just a little more reserved about hugging people. Her husband on the other hand... Let's just say we don't see eye to eye.  
He seems emotionless and like a jackass to me" I groaned, eyes widening when I realized what I said. "I didn't mean to say that" I smiled sheepishly. "It's okay, my cousin's last boyfriend was like that" he said, sipping, well gulping, more of his tea.  
"My second oldest sibling is my brother, Adrian. He's loud, obsessed with video games, and has a dirty sense of humor that he's proud to overuse. He's nice, but very outgoing so if he seems flirty, just ignore it. It's just his personality. He has a girlfriend named Paula, she's shy, but you'll probably get along with her well, she loves art" I said, checking my phone to see that forty minutes had already passed since we sat down.  
"My cousin's best friend is named Paula, she's shy too" Ciel said, furrowing his eyebrows in thought, shrugging and looking towards me. I took that as my cue to continue, "me and my twin brother are the third oldest. My twin's name is Claude and he's older than me by eight minutes, he'll never let me forget that either.  
He's very sarcastic and his favorite past time is teasing me. He acts completely innocent in front of people he doesn't know well, but trust me he's not. He talks non-stop about his boyfriend, but he's never told me his name and I've never met him, so I guess we'll figure that out together."  
"My youngest siblings are also twins, but they're eighteen so you don't have to worry about little kids. Kyrie is the older of the two by five minutes, she's very energetic and bubbly, while the younger of the two, Caden, is the complete opposite.  
He's shy, calm, and quiet. He doesn't talk much and will usually only come out of his shell when he's talking about something he loves or is playing video games with Adrian. Kyrie has a girlfriend named Hannah and Caden has a boyfriend named Alan, but I've only met them once so I don't know much about them" I shrugged, checking my phone again to see that it was time to board.  
"Well, I'm sure I won't remember all those names, but I suppose I have nine hours to try" the blue eyed boy smiled, standing up, hoisting his duffle bag strap over his shoulder, and throwing away his empty cup.  
"Have you ever been to England before?" I asked, as we took our seats. I let him sit by the window, where he was already looking out into the darkness of the runway. It worked out well as I could stretch out better on the aisle seat.  
"You can't tell from my accent?" he laughed, "I was born in London and lived in the country until I was sixteen." "After living there so long you start you forget about the accent" I shrugged with a smirk.  
"I was there until I left for university" I said, making sure my bag was in the over head bin, sitting down beside him afterwards. "I love New York, I will admit I miss England every now and again though" Ciel said, buckling his seatbelt.  
"It's been so long since I've been to London" he sighed forlornly, staring blankly at his hands for a few seconds, before blinking a few times, and clearing his throat. "So, what kind of music do you like?" he asked, looking at me quickly. I gave him a small smile, not commenting on how sad he seemed seconds ago.  
"Where you I begin? With the first billion bands or the second billion bands?" I joked, making him smirk, "Maybe just name a few of those billions, I'm sure you could name them from now until we land."  
"You're not wrong in assuming that" I laughed, "I like a wide variety of music. Breaking Benjamin, The Luka State, One Ok Rock, Bring Me The Horizon, My Chemical Romance, Nirvana, Theory of a Deadman, Jack Johnson, 5 Seconds of Summer, AC/DC, Halsey, Sumo Cyco, White Lies, to name just a few."  
"I haven't heard Sumo Cyco or Halsey, but I like all the ones you named that I know. Some of my favourites are Bastille, Good With Grenades, Spyair, McFly, Disturbed, Ryan Star, Adele, Paramore, Blink 182, Bon Iver, Sleeping With Sirens, Imagine Dragons, and All Time Low" he named off, I smirked as I realized he matched the number I named.  
All the while the air hosts and hostesses where demonstrating how to use the oxygen bags, and by the time we finished naming bands they were done and the plane door was shut. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin our departure from JFK airport, please shut off all electronics until the okay is given by your captain to turn them back on. Thank you" a hostess said over the intercom, and the plane started to roll down the runway only minutes later.  
This is it, I'm going home, and this time, I won't be alone.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Kuroshitsuji fanfic so opinions would be appreciated!  
> The title was inspired by the song So Close by Jon McLaughlin, if you listen to lyrics you'll get why I chose it in the later chapters.  
> This will probably be 4 to 6 chapters long, I was originally hoping to have it all written and posted by Christmas or at least New Years Eve, but that's obviously not happening.


End file.
